Soleta
) (2374)]] The Vulcan/Romulan woman known as Soleta served in Starfleet aboard the USS Aldrin, the USS Excalibur (NCC-26517) and the USS Excalibur (NCC-26517-A). Soleta also served the Romulan Star Empire and the New Thallonian Protectorate on board the Romulan stealth vessel, the Spectre. Early Life In 2336, on the Vulcan colony world of Col Coroli IX, Soleta's mother, T'Pas, was raped by a Romulan named Rajari. The assault left T'Pas pregnant. Soleta was born in the year 2337, and grew up unaware that she was biologically half-Romulan. T'Pas, and the man she believed to be her father, Volak, chose not to tell Soleta about the violent assault on her mother. (New Frontier short story, "Revelations" from the anthology No Limits.) Starfleet Academy Soleta attended Starfleet Academy from the year 2357 to the year 2361. Soon after arriving at the the Academy, Soleta joined a study group that consisted of herself, her roommate Tania Tobias, Mark McHenry, the Brikar named Zak Kebron, and Worf, the first Klingon in Starfleet. (''TNG'' Starfleet Academy (YA Book Series) #1: Worf's First Adventure) Soleta was part of the Academy contingent that traveled to the colony ran jointly by the Federation and the Klingon Empire on Dantar IV in 2357. When the colony was unexpectedly attacked by forces of Brikar (after the government of Brikar had briefly declared war on the Federation), Soleta was among those that stayed behind when the evacuation ships hit capacity. (''TNG'' Starfleet Academy (YA Book Series) #2: Line of Fire) Soon after the attack, Soleta captured a Brikar pilot named Baan from a downed Brikar ship. Soleta performed a mind-meld with Baan when traditional interrogation techniques proved useless. (''TNG'' Starfleet Academy (YA Book Series) #3: Survival) Starfleet Upon graduation in 2361, Soleta (along with Worf and Tania Tobias), was assigned to the Oberth class starship, the USS Aldrin. In 2362, Soleta was part of an away team to the planet of Kalendra Minor that was attacked by Romulan smugglers. Upon interrogating a captured Romulan, who just happened to be Rajari, Soleta learned the truth about her parentage. Without ever realizing that he was talking to his biological daughter, Rajari described the incident years ago when he had raped Soleta's mother. A call to Soleta's parents confirmed Rajari's story. Soleta, knowing that Starfleet required her to report the fact that she had Romulan blood, and that her career was on the line, chose to take a leave of absence from Starfleet. (New Frontier short story, "Revelations" from the anthology No Limits.) Thallon In 2363, Soleta was still on her LOA and was on the non-aligned planet Thallon, when she was captured by a Thallonian patrol led by Thallonian Chancellor Yoz. Soleta was scheduled for execution for trespassing in Thallonian space. She was rescued from her cell by the legendary Ambassador Spock, who was undercover on Thallon on a fact-finding mission. Spock and Soleta were caught in the act of escaping by Thallonian nobleman, Si Cwan. Cwan, who felt that Soleta's punishment was unnecessairly harsh and wanted to take Yoz down a few pegs, allowed the pair to escape. (''New Frontier'' novel: House of Cards) Spock and Soleta escaped from Thallon in a freighter named Qualor's Pride under freighter captain Revex Akachin. Some of Akachin's crew had run afoul of Ferengi creditors, who confronted the ship and chose to take Spock and Soleta prisoner as payment. Spock and Soleta helped the Qualor's Pride run from its attackers long enough to call in a Klingon ship, who disposed of the Ferengi vessel. (New Frontier short story, "Out of the Frying Pan" from the anthology No Limits.) USS Excalibur By the year 2373, Soleta had still not informed Starfleet about her parantage, but had promised T'Pas on her deathbed in 2371 that she would resume her Starfleet career, and had begun teaching classes at Starfleet Academy in San Francisco. After the fall of the Thallonian Empire, thousands of Thallonian refugees began leaving the former Empire and coming to the Federation for aid. Starfleet decided to send in a starship to the area to provide what aid and stability it could. Soleta, given that she was one of the very few individuals within Starfleet who had ever traveled to Thallonian space, and given that she was recommended for the position by none other than Spock himself, recieved orders to report to the starship that the Federation was sending to Thallonian space, the USS Excalibur as science officer. ([[Star Trek: New Frontier|''New Frontier]] novel #1: House of Cards) Si Cwan, the sole known surviving member of the Thallonian royal family, called in the favor earned when he had allowed Soleta to escape from Thallon ten years previously, and asked Soleta to smuggle him aboard the Excalibur so that he could talk with the ship's new captain, Mackenzie Calhoun about the situation in Sector 221-G. Soleta complied with Cwan's request, but immediately informed Calhoun of Cwan's presence. After meeting with Cwan, Calhoun kept Cwan, who had a connection to the people and knowledge of the region, aboard the ship as an unofficial "Ambasador". (''New Frontier'' novel #2: Into the Void) comic.]] Soleta served on the Excalibur, along with Academy school-mates Mark McHenry and Zak Kebron, throughout the vessels mission in Thallonian space, until her destruction in the year 2376. (''New Frontier'' novels #3-8'') Shortly after the Excalibur's destruction, Soleta learned from Volak that Rajari had been released from incarceration and had attempted to communicate with T'Pas, not knowing of her death. Soleta tracked Rajari to the Titan colony, where she found her biological father to be terminally ill. Bedfore Rajari died, he manipulated Soleta into delivering an explosive package to a Romulus address. The explosion, which Soleta herself was nearly caught in, killed several of Rajari's old enemies and destroyed a prominent Romulan landmark. (''New Frontier'' novel #9: Requiem) Excalibur-A When the Galaxy class USS Excalibur (NCC-26517-A) launched in mid-2376, Soleta was there to resume her duties as science officer. (''New Frontier'' novel #11: Restoration) During the Gateways crisis, Soleta activated an Iconian resonator on an ancient Gateway in Sector 221-G as part of a fleet-wide effort to shut down the Gateway network. (TNG short story, "The Other Side" from the anthology Gateways book seven: What Lay Beyond.) When the entities known as the Beings approached the Federation in late 2376, Soleta met the Being known as Thoth. Soleta sampled the mind-altering Ambrosia of the Gods, and felt an inner peace the likes of which she had never known before. While under the influence of the Ambrosia, Soleta engaged in a brief physical relationship with Thoth. (''New Frontier'' novel #13: Gods Above) The Selevian War In late 2376, The Excalibur was key in discovering that a Federation member, the Selelvians, were using mind-control powers to manipulate the Federation. (''New Frontier'' novel Stone and Anvil) Soon after the Selelvians left the Federation in disgrace, they allied themselves with the Tholian Assembly and waged a brief war with the Federation. The Selelvians and Tholians allied themselves with several other minor powers in the Alpha Quadrant, including the Orions. Soleta was onboard a shuttle with USS Trident captain, and wife of Mackenzie Calhoun, Elizabeth Shelby, that was attacked by an Orion vessel working on the behalf of the Selelvians. The shuttle crashed on a barren planetoid, and the Orions soon had them cornered and were asking for their surrender. In order to save Shelby's life, Soleta administered a Vulcan nerve pinch to Shelby, and attacked the Orions single-handedly. Soleta managed to kill the Orions, but she was severly injured in the process. The resulting medical treatments revealed the secret of Soleta's half-Romulan heritage. (New Frontier short story, "Pain Management" from the anthology Tales From The Captain's Table) Following the incident, the office of the Starfleet senior councilor decreed that Soleta was to be demoted, and given low security, planet-bound duties. Soleta chose instead to resign from Starfleet. Mackenzie Calhoun threatened to resign from Starfleet himself over the decision, and only refrained at the behest of Soleta. Calhoun did, however, put the Starfleet senior councilor in the hospital with one punch.(''New Frontier'' novel After The Fall) The Spectre Soleta, feeling the need to be a part of something and that one half of her heritage had abandoned her, decided to see if the other half of her heritage offered her anything. She made her way to Romulus, where she was immediately arrested. While in custody, Soleta came to the attention of the Romulan Praetor, Hiren. Hiren was impressed by Soleta's integrity, loyalty, and her offer to give him the same level of integrity and loyalty should he accept her service. Hiren gave Soleta command of the secret stealth vessel, Spectre, and personally sent her on fact-gathering missions. (''New Frontier'' novel After The Fall) Warning! MAJOR spoilers for the recently released Missing In Action follow. The Spectre was on assignment and observing communications silence when Hiren and the Romulan Senate were assassinated by the Reman, Shinzon. Upon returning to Romulan space, the Spectre was attacked by Romulan vessels loyal to Shinzon, and saw Soleta's loyalty to Hiren as a threat. Soleta just barely managed to get her ship to safety. Soleta's crew came to the conclusion that the only way that they would be accepted back in Romulan space were if Soleta were in their custody. The crew mutinied soon after, forcing Soleta to blow them all out of the ship's airlocks. Soleta and the sole survivor of her airlock tactic, her Tribune (the Romulan equivalent to first officer), Lucius, played a game of cat-and-mouse throughout the Spectre before finally coming to an understanding. Soon after, the Spectre joined in a battle against a vessel of the extra-dimensional Teuthis over the planet Priatia, in an attempt to rescue the captive sister of Si Cwan (who had become the leader of the New Thallonian Protectorate), Kallinda from her Priatian captors. After the rescue of Kallinda, and upon learning of the assassination of Si Cwan in an attempted coup, Soleta offered the services of her ship and self to Kallinda, Cwan's widow Robin Lefler, and the New Thallonian Protectorate. (''New Frontier'' novel Missing In Action) Soleta Soleta Soleta Soleta Soleta Soleta